Katie Doll, Author at Shortform Books

Competitive Market Research: 4 Areas of Companies to Study

How do you perform competitive market research? How can studying other businesses improve yours? According to Michael Porter’s book Competitive Strategy, researching your competitors will benefit you in two ways. First, it will enable you to create effective countermoves to their strategies. Second, it will help you anticipate their responses to your strategic initiatives. Let’s explore the insights you’ll gain by performing competitive market research.

The Difficulties of Adapting to New Video Game Technology

How has video game technology changed over the years? How do game developers navigate these changes? These days, the best video games look so realistic that they could easily be mistaken for a movie. This is thanks to the always-evolving video game technology that developers are forced to keep up with every year. Let’s look at how developers adapt to new technological advancements in the video game industry.

Jennette McCurdy’s Toxic Mother-Daughter Relationship

What does a toxic mother-daughter relationship look like? What kind of boundaries did Debra McCurdy cross with her daughter Jennette? Jennette McCurdy’s memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died describes the tumultuous relationship between her and her abusive mother, Debra. Jennette goes into detail about the types of abuse she experienced from her mother, which mainly stemmed from a lack of boundaries between the two. Keep reading to learn more about this toxic mother-daughter relationship.

What Is Habit Stacking? Adopting Productive Behaviors

What is habit stacking? How can you use a current habit to build a better and healthier one? According to James Clear, a great way to get used to a new habit is “stacking” it on top of another. This means adding a new behavior onto another to continue the habit routine. Below we’ll look at how habit stacking works, beginning with the cues and cravings that make it possible.

3 Ways to Gain a Competitive Advantage in Business

Does your business need revamping? Do you want to gain a competitive advantage in business? The goal of every business is to outperform its competitors. Competitive Advantage by Michael Porter suggests that you align your operational procedures with one of three strategies: set lower prices, offer something unique, and target niche markets. Discover how to implement each of these strategies.

Reevaluating Your Life to Understand Your Relationships

How much clarity do you have about the stage of life you’re in right now? Why is reevaluating your life and relationships crucial for your happiness? In The Good Life, Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz explore two frameworks for understanding your current relationships. They urge you to evaluate your stage of life and the shape that your relationships are in. Continue reading to reevaluate your life with the authors’ practical frameworks.

Worst Cases of Crunch Culture in the Video Game Industry

What is crunch culture in video games? Why do game development studios push their employees beyond their limits? According to Blood, Sweat, and Pixels by Jason Schreier, many game development studios prioritize mandatory overtime over their employees’ mental health and personal lives. This is to meet deadlines and avoid delays that mean pushing the release of video games back for months or even years. Continue reading to learn why crunch culture has become so normalized in the gaming industry.

The Terrible Effects of Abusive Parents on Adult Children

How did Jennette McCurdy recover from her mother’s abuse? What are the effects of abusive parents on adult children? After her mom’s death, McCurdy’s difficult childhood and its lasting, negative effects began to catch up to her. In I’m Glad My Mom Died, McCurdy explores her experience with therapy and treatment for her eating disorders and how she came to terms with her mom, Debra’s abuse. Continue reading to learn how this former actor coped with her abusive childhood as an adult.

The Fogg Behavior Model: How You Trigger Bad Habits

What is the Fogg Behavior Model? What role does motivation play in forming habits? In Tiny Habits, Stanford behavioral scientist BJ Fogg presents the Fogg Behavior Model. The model explains that habits form because of your motivation to perform the habit. Below we’ll take a look at the psychology and science behind the Fogg Behavior Model.

Differentiation in Business: How to Stand Out From Competitors

Do you want your business to stand out from the rest? How can you practice differentiation in business? To gain a competitive advantage in the market, your business has to offer something unique from other businesses. Additionally, you need to target niche markets that your product specifically caters to. Let’s look at how to make your business one of a kind to draw more consumers in.